Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Bold Metals Essentials | Christmas By Real Techniques

I'm a huge fan of the standard Real Techniques brushes, I think that the quality and the value for money is second to none. So to begin with, I was annoyed that they'd made these 'luxury' brushes, instead of improving the existing brushes. I actually spent months trying to convince myself that I didn't need the fancy Bold Metals brushes by Real Techniques. However, when they released the luxury Christmas Sets, I knew that I would not be able to resist the Bold Metals Essentials set (especially when I spotted it for £30 on offer at Boots). The Bold Metals Essentials set comes packaged in a simple box, which has some pretty gold detailing. When you delve inside the box, you find three brushes and a pretty triple-colour clutch bag.

Real Techniques say that they had one goal when creating the Bold Metals line. They wanted to create breathtaking, premium brushes that give amazing results. The range is finished with tapered handles, which make them perfect for the belts of makeup artists, but it also stops the brushes from falling off your dressing table. Despite their hefty appearance, the brushes are incredibly lightweight, meaning you can create flawless looks effortlessly. Much like the original brushes, the Bold Metal collection is colour coded in categories. There's gold handles for base brushes, silver for eyes and rose gold for finishing. Real Techniques have swapped the black bristles from the original range, for white bristles. Which means you can see exactly how makeup you have on the brush. The bristles are tapered and offer artistry cuts, for precision application.

The first brush is exclusive to the Bold Metals Essentials set; the 103 angled powder brush. It's the largest brush that Bold Metals has created, which means it is great for applying powder, but the angled edges means it is great for fitting the contours of the face. I've used this brush for my traditional powder, bronzer and even finishing powder and it does a great job.

The second brush in the set is the200 oval shadow brush (£15 here), which is a bit of a dual purpose brush, so it's a worthy additional to my eyeshadow brush collection. It's got a fabulous round shape, which allows for all-over lid application. It means you can really pack on the colour. It's also big and fluffy, which means you can get seamless blending with minimal effort. You can actually use the brush with both cream and powder products, so there is a wealth of opportunities for eyeshadow looks.

The last brush in the set is the 300 tapered blush brush (£24 here), which is a stunning shape, it's unlike any other brush in my collection. It's got a specially-designed tip which allows you to use the brush for blusher, sculpting and highlighting. The size makes it easy to work with; it's not too big and it's not too little. It blends out all of my blushers, highlighters and sculpting products with ease, which makes it great for speeding up my morning routine.All three brushes in the collection are incredibly soft, if you felt that the original brushes were soft, these are on a whole other level. They are designed to be shed-resistant, I've definitely not noticed any bristles, which is rare for a brand new brush. Whilst the original Real Techniques brushes are beautiful quality, the Bold Metals collection offers something that feels luxury. These definitely are not just an "excuse" to charge more money, the brushes have a noticeable jump in quality, performance and style.